


Do you remember?

by oddmentt



Series: Do you remember? [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-09 20:57:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13489641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oddmentt/pseuds/oddmentt
Summary: Hiya lovelies, this is my first attempt on writing fanfiction, or rather actually writing something I would have the balls to publish. *insert nervous laughter* I have written a shit ton of text, but we’ll see how it goes! So yeah this is just the first part of many… maybe. Also English isn’t my first language, so please be merciful.The story involves a made up character of mine and this first part is really only a filter; nothing too exciting happens. (oops)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya lovelies, this is my first attempt on writing fanfiction, or rather actually writing something I would have the balls to publish. *insert nervous laughter* I have written a shit ton of text, but we’ll see how it goes! So yeah this is just the first part of many… maybe. Also English isn’t my first language, so please be merciful.
> 
> The story involves a made up character of mine and this first part is really only a filter; nothing too exciting happens. (oops)

“I’ll never be able to go on a date with her…” James Potter groaned, resting his chin on top of his crossed hands, feeling utterly miserable. He had just heard a rumour that his long-time crush, Lily Evans, was seeing someone from Ravenclaw. The day hadn’t been going well either; during Potions class his cauldron had exploded in his face because he hadn’t been paying enough attention to what he was doing. His complexion still had a faint tint of grey, making him look as if he was about to be sick at any moment.

The Great Hall was full of students hurrying for lunch before their lectures continued in the evening and everyone was buzzing about the upcoming Quidditch game Gryffindor versus Slytherin, which was set for two weeks from now. It was the only thing keeping James from having a full-blown meltdown, since the Gryffindor team was working quite seamlessly during practices.

Sirius Black patted James on the back as he took a sip of pumpkin juice. “Don’t worry about it, mate. Have some pie.” He pushed a delicious looking steak and kidney pie towards James, but he merely groaned. Today he was content on only feeling utterly miserable.

“You’re not going to win her over by not eating and you know it,” said Remus Lupin, who had joined the conversation, noticing how miserable James indeed was. He closed the Charms book he was reading and poured James some more pumpkin juice into his goblet.

“Where did you hear that she was dating someone from Ravenclaw?” piped up a rather mousy looking boy named Peter Pettigrew. He kept throwing nervous glances towards James, who was basically his hero. It made him feel as miserable as James to see him so discouraged.

James was just about to reply as he heard his last name being called somewhere near the big wooden doors. Noticing it was a girl’s voice, his head shot up as he observed the direction the voice had come from, heart starting to beat frantically, hoping it were Lily. However, to his slight disappointment it was Rumi Calder, Lily’s best friend. She half-jogged over to where the Marauders were sitting with her long brown hair flowing behind her as leaned close to James, causing the Marauders all cast curious looks at one another. From the group only James and Remus really knew her, but never before had she sought them out in the Great Hall.

“Tonight, after dinner, come into the common room and you’ll find Lily sitting in the corner, in need of someone to talk to. Marlene and I will be… ah… busy, and it’s up to you to make her feel better,” she said slightly out of breath, eyes beaming like she had just found a cure for dragon pox. “Yeah?” She glanced at a bewildered James.

“I… What?”

Rumi rolled her eyes and sighed. “Look, I don’t have time to explain it to you again, so just come into the common room after dinner, alright? Make Lily feel better. I have to go now,” she said as she straightened and glanced nervously towards the doors.

“I… Any- any advice?” James stuttered, still quite baffled by her words.

Rumi merely laughed and replied, “Just… Trust me, mate. Go with the flow.”

She turned towards the doors and as an afterthought she nodded courtly to the other Marauders, who were in turn staring at her curiously or in bewilderment, and muttered, “Ladies…” with a wicked grin and hurried off.

There was a moment of silence between the boys, which was broken by Peter accidentally dropping his fork.

“Now that…” Remus muttered, cocking an eyebrow.

“…was interesting,” finished a grinning Sirius as he glanced after the hazel haired girl who had already disappeared into the crowd. 

Realisation was drawing in on James as his puzzled expression slowly changed into a horrified one. A swarm of butterflies had found their way into James’s stomach.

“Merlin’s pants,” he muttered and drew a shaking hand through his messy, jet black hair. All the times he had asked her out before this moment had been washed away from his mind. This is it.

“This is it!” exclaimed an excited Sirius, echoing James’s unspoken thoughts. “Mate, you’ve waited for this for ages!” He slapped James on the back and gave a high five to Remus, who looked utterly amused with remnants of curiosity still etched on his faintly scarred face. Peter chuckled and clapped his hands next to Remus, his eyes round as saucers. 

“What’ll I say? Or do?!” James yelped, giving each boy a look of plea. Remus scratched his chin thoughtfully, still wearing the amused expression.

“Well, I guess you just ‘go with the flow’, right?”

James gave a high-pitched cry and leaned towards him across the mahogany table. “But what does it MEAN?!”

Peter was about to join in on the conversation as Sirius interrupted him, grabbing James by the front of his shirt. “You go in there and make her swoon! We’ll be right behind you if you need us, Prongs!”

“Absolutely not,” said Remus in a stern voice, catching both boys off guard. “James will go there alone, without us-” Sirius was just about to protest as Remus continued, “because he doesn’t need us in order to make Lily feel better. And possibly we’d only just make things worse.”

A solid feeling of certainty rushed through James as he listened to Remus’s words, his panic slowly subsiding. He took a deep breath and set his shoulders in determination. Surely he, James Fleamont Potter, would be able to lift someone’s mood, even if that someone was none other than the love of his life, Lily Evans.

“I’ll go in there… and make her swoon!” he declared, sounding assured and rather dramatic, as if he were a soldier about to go off to battle. Although, in a way he was.

Sirius jumped in his seat in victory and grabbed James by the shoulders. “That’s my boy!”

James downed his goblet of pumpkin juice in one chug and glanced at his watch, grinning like a loony. One and a half hours to go.


	2. Chapter 2

“Miss Calder, may I have a moment please?” Professor McGonagall called after her. It was the end of the school day and Rumi was quickly trying to pack her books back into her already stuffed bag. She gave a quick glance to her two best friends, Lily Evans and Marlene McKinnon, who nodded and said that they’d see her later in the common room. Rumi made her way up to the front of the class and strode over to Professor McGonagall’s desk.

“Yes, Professor?”

Rumi noticed professor McGonagall hesitate for a split second. “Now, I know you already have your hands full with your last tutoring students and Quidditch practices… However, I was wondering if it would be possible for you to fit one more student under your tutoring?” The professor noticed the anxious look on Rumi’s face before continuing quickly. “Like I said, I understand you are under a lot of stress with your N.E.W.Ts coming up next year, but this particular student will not even pass the bare minimum expected in order to pass this course. Therefore, I am imploring you to take him under your wing. As I understand Mr Lockswell is doing rather excellent in class now after some sessions with you, I must say I am more than pleased with your work with him. I have spoken to Mr Lockswell and we have come to the conclusion that he will not be needing any more tutoring for the time being.”

Rumi sighed and pushed a brown strand behind her ear.

“I suppose I can take him for tutoring…” she slightly hesitated, imagining that she would have to redo her studying schedule once again. Lily and Marlene would not be happy.

Professor McGonagall beamed. “Excellent! I will let Mr. Black know at once so you will be able to—”

“Forgive me, Professor, but… I thought Regulus was doing just fine now?” Rumi interrupted her, feeling slightly confused. She had tutored Regulus Black, a quiet Slytherin boy, last year after Professor McGonagall had referred him under Rumi’s tutoring. They had gotten along rather well, as long as he wasn’t with his Slytherin friends.

“Oh, yes, Regulus is doing quite well, quite well indeed now that he has caught up with the others,” replied Professor McGonagall. “However, I was referring to the other Black—”

“The… other… Black?” His brother, on the other hand, she had never gotten to know. Nor did she feel the particular need to want to get to know him; he was always joking around and playing pranks on other students with his boy gang.

Professor McGonagall fluttered, slightly taken aback by Rumi’s sudden lack of manners. “Why yes, Miss Calder, did I not mention his name before? Oh well, now you know that the student in question will indeed be Sirius Black.” She nodded courtly at Rumi who was shuffling her feet slightly. Professor McGonagall sighed and added in a quiet voice, “I trust him only in your hands.”

* * *

Rumi knew indeed who Sirius Black was, however they had hardly ever properly spoken. Her best friend was in the early stages of dating James Potter, after Rumi had finally been able to get Lily alone with James and simply let him speak to her without his flock of friends swarming around him. The three girls had only recently started hanging out with James Potter’s boy gang, since apparently things between Lily and James were quickly heating up.

Rumi had always been an avid James endorser, with Lily and Rumi’s best friend Marlene backing up her cause. James was a good-humoured boy, who was the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain and Rumi’s fellow chaser. She and James were great friends and had been since their third year, after both making it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Quickly they became the gruesome twosome on the team, making their teamwork look seamless and effortless, scoring countless goals during games.

Rumi had also often worked with Remus Lupin, a tall, quiet bookworm like herself, in the library and they had often had marvellous and long conversations and debates from Basic Herbology to Politics. Rumi had immediately grown to like Remus and she felt that they had loads in common and it was always a relief to be able to talk to him without having to contribute to Lily and James’s conversations that almost always turned physical very quickly.

The fourth person of the Marauders (as they called themselves) was a short, shy boy with wheat coloured hair named Peter Pettigrew. He was always listening in on Rumi and Remus’s conversations and quietly tried to give his contributions to the conversations from time to time. Unfortunate for him, however, that he very rarely had anything significant to say and on more than two occasions he just gaped at Rumi while she spoke.

Sirius Black, on the other hand, had become a daydream of Marlene’s. She was determined to find out his affections for her and she often tried to converse with Sirius whenever she had the chance, fluttering her eyes in the dreamiest way possible. However, Sirius had not been as interested in her as she was in him, much to her disappointment. There was always that confident way he walked and joked about that made Rumi want to roll her eyes. Although on more than one occasion she would find him brooding on the edge of the common room couch, barely saying a word as the other Marauders shared a joke or two. Nevertheless, every girl in the school wanted to be his girlfriend. Or, rather, his something. So far every girl had fallen for his dark, handsome looks with a twist of brooding and recklessness. And much to Rumi’s surprise, he barely reacted to the attention he was getting. She had to admit (after endless prodding from Marlene) that Sirius was, indeed, very good looking. He was tall and handsome, with long dark hair that almost touched his shoulders and more than often he wore a charming smile on his lips. And somehow Rumi always caught him looking somewhere else when she was absolutely sure his eyes had just been on her.

* * *

“Alright then.” Rumi sat down facing Sirius Black in the library to start their tutoring sessions the next day. She pulled out her book of Transfigurations and looked up at him with an unyielding expression, meaning all business. He was smiling at her charmingly, leaning back in his chair with his book and wand already out.

“And so we meet again,” he said and drew a hand through his dark hair, making it slightly stick out on the side. Professor McGonagall had pulled them both aside after the morning’s Transfiguration class and explained to the boy that the carelessness of not being able to spare enough time to do homework properly had its consequences.

“So we do,” she retorted and before he could continue, “Now, since you are officially under my tutoring, I have some rules for you. Number one: be on time. Number two: work hard. And number three: I’m not here to take any codswallop from you, so you can forget all that nonsense. Are we clear?”

“Absolutely.” Sirius merely smirked. Rumi took out her wand and started to ask him questions about which spells he thought were more difficult for him. It didn’t take her long to notice that he, in fact, wasn’t at all behind in class; it merely seemed as if he didn’t really care.

“So it was your doing that the two lovebirds finally found each other, eh?” he said after a few minutes of silence. Rumi continued to write down a list of spells they still had to go through, not taking her eyes off the parchment.

“And what’s it to you?”

“Well… I was rather hoping to be the best man at their wedding and your support for my campaign wouldn’t hurt,” he said, a smirk playing on his lips.

Rumi rolled her eyes in exasperation, trying in vain to hide her amusement.

“All the campaigning I’ll ever do is to get you to do your homework properly so Professor McGonagall won’t have to make me waste my time on you.”

Sirius quietly chuckled, satisfied with her response. He indeed had a firecracker in his hands, just like he had predicted. He theatrically laid a hand on his heart pretending to be wounded by her remark.

“Ouch! Why must you hurt me so, love?”

She cocked her eyebrow after hearing the last word, lifting her gaze to stare him straight in the eye.

“Easily, _love_ , if you don’t start that homework of yours,” she retorted pursing her lips, trying to hold back a smile that was fighting its way onto them.

During their discussions, Sirius was starting to pay more attention to her warm hazel eyes that seemed ever so inviting, now that they were looking straight at him. Her eyes had depth in them; even the colour was not truly hazel, but with a hint of green closer to the pupil. He found himself imagining a brown brick wall with intense green ivy growing around the middle, tangling itself tightly among the bricks. He was now indeed satisfied to find out their true colour, since she was often conversing animatedly with Remus or Lily or had a thick book propped up in front of her, her eyes averted away from his curious gaze. And once they found his, he didn’t yet possess the courage to meet them.

She had an easy-going way of manner, with still being strict yet incredibly kind. And yet, she was somewhat shy and rather listened than spoke up. But when she did, all eyes would be on her. And when it came to matching with Sirius’s sass, she was right there, giving it back to him in same measure.

Occasionally she would absently push a wavy hair strand behind her ear as she leaned over to study from her open book. Her wavy, brown hair with a hint of auburn, was up on a messy bun and now and then her hair strands would flutter in the faint breeze that came from the open window.

He was very intrigued by her now, yes, but he was also curious to why he had not noticed her before. Sure, he had seen her before, but he had not truly noticed her. She had been in the Gryffindor Quidditch team since their third year and he always remembered her having a word with James in the corridor, discussing Quidditch practice and new strategies. He also recalled how she would give the Marauders a small smile as she and James made their way down to Quidditch practices. He knew she was friends with Marlene McKinnon and Lily Evans, who was James Potter’s longest crush to date. He vaguely remembers Rumi steering Lily away from the Marauder’s gang and scolding at them for making fun of Severus Snape before their fourth year. Only at the beginning of this year (their sixth) he had, indeed, truly noticed her.


End file.
